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Farewell to a Good Friend

Submitted by Dave on September 21, 1999 - 1:00am

Those of you who know me, know I love diving Catalina Island. Many of you have gone with Dive Utah on one of our Catalina adventures, either staying on the island or diving off a live-aboard boat. For the last few years I've taken many groups down on a unique boat called the Psalty V (pronounced Salty). There were many things about the Psalty that made it a good trip, the boat was pretty roomy, it was fast, and the food was great. But the best thing about the boat was her captain, Gary Jackson.

Now before you think someone's died, Gary is still alive and well, the only problem (for us, not him) is that he's decided to sell the boat and take an offer to captain a 90' luxury yacht in Florida. I'll never forget some of the great times spent down on the Psalty. Gary would take us anywhere we asked. Every trip we'd see dolphins playing in the wake and off the bow on the way to and from the island. On a few occasions, we'd see sea lions on night dives that would follow us everywhere we'd go using our lights to help them hunt for fish.

Gary is a huge Lakers fan and whenever the Jazz and Lakers played, calls would follow with plenty of chest thumping. One of my favorite memories was being down on the Psalty for a Nitrox Instructor course at Catalina. This coincided with the Jazz appearing in the NBA Finals for the first time. I'll never forget doing a 100' Nitrox dive at Long Point in the morning and sitting in Avalon harbor watching the Jazz beat the Bulls at the buzzer in the afternoon.

Gary, you and your boat will be sorely missed. On behalf of the hundreds of divers you've taken to Catalina, I'd like to thank you for all you've done. Good luck in the warm waters of the Caribbean.

Let's go diving! Dave Fall 1999

Good news for all of us!!! As of winter 2001, Gary is back in California on the Psalty. We're sorry things didn't work out for him in Florida, but glad to see him back on the west coast.